


Hunted

by itsaconquestofimagination



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Angst, Enforcer Kylo Ren, Escaped slave, F/M, First Order, Fluff and Angst, Kylo Ren Angst, Kylo Ren Trying to Understand Romance, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Reader-Insert, Ryloth | Twi'lek, Slavery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-04
Updated: 2016-11-04
Packaged: 2018-08-28 23:30:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8467120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsaconquestofimagination/pseuds/itsaconquestofimagination
Summary: The First Order is accumulating more and more territory as the spread their reign across the galaxy. Looking to recreate an Empire much like his grandfather’s Kylo decides to regain loyalty from/take military resources from/claim Ryloth for the First Order. In his raid he barges into the royal palace, seeing something far more interesting that he decides he must have for himself.





	1. Chapter 1

The sun was finally setting as the bustling of people around the kingdom was dwindling down, the loud voices slowly growing softer as the lights of peoples homes started illuminating. Balancing a full basket of vegetables at your hip, you wiped the sweat from your forehead. It had not only been one of the hottest days in recent weeks, but one of the longest. The number of times you had been sent to the market to fetch something was taking its toll on the soles of your feet, now soiled by dust and dirt. Between that and the hours you spent running around the kingdom at your masters beckon call, you were ready to pass out. Entering through the back alley that had been carved out for your master in the valley walls, you made your way back to the same grand entrance. Bowing to the guards they simply gestured for you to enter. You weren’t sure how these humans had wound up being fortunate enough to get out of slavery by the Twi’lek people, but somehow they had managed. Of course, unlike them, you actually had a home in the palace. Though it was in a cavern behind the palace where not many could see, it was at least guarded and fairly clean.

Approaching the grand hall you winced your eyes closed as you could feel the blisters on your feet practically screaming at you to simply stop. With a few more steps you finally heard the familiar sounds of the kitchen. Water boiling, knives chopping on the stone tables, fire crackling. A sigh of relief escaped your lips as you walked in and set the basket down on one of the tables.

“I brought the produce.”

The staff ignored you almost entirely as they continued working. Even these jerks had a superiority complex in the palace. Shaking your head you walked off back through the grand stone halls. As you came closer to where your master usually regally sat in front of his subjects you picked up an echo in Twi’leki.

“We shall have them prepared tomorrow. Surely we have enough staff.”

You stopped in your tracks, your gut sinking. They were selling you and other slaves off. Of course you knew the planet’s income came greatly from exporting slaves, but you weren’t prepared to be one of them. If anything you had only recently learned to accept your life here. Sighing you made your way to the queens chambers, the faster you could get your duties done, the sooner you could collapse in your little cavern. Lucky for you, the king and queen had not built their sleeping quarters into a second level of the valley but rather settled for the natural alcove deep inside. It surely made the toll on your knees a little less painful.

* * *

 

An hour later as you finally finished scrubbing the stone floors you let out a heavy sigh. The day was FINALLY done. You could finally relieve your poor feet from their misery. Standing up properly you suddenly heard screaming and wailing echo through the stone palace. You paused, maybe this was just a scuffle outside. That was until you heard the rumbling of stone off in the distance, little chunks of the stone ceiling crumbling onto the floor in front of you. Earthquakes were not a common occurence, and the local volcanoes were not going to be a threat for decades.

Someone was attacking.

Working past the aching pain in your feet you quickly rushed for an exit, likely the easiest way to escape or hide would be out the front door. At least that way you could escape into the winding cobblestone roads of the canyon. There was no way you were going to allow yourself to die being crushed by this palace, not when you had a chance to run in the flurry of action. Ignoring the other scurrying staff you made your way out the grand entrance, only to stop and have your eyes go wide in shock.

This was more than an attack, it was a full blown raid. There were fires blazing, blaster shots flying through the air, bodys collapsing to the floor, people being shoved to the ground, flying vehicles descending all around the canyon and storm troopers marching through. There may have been a past alliance with the Galactic Empire, but this was a whole other beast, hungry for power. Looking ahead of you, you saw the somewhat narrow but feasible route up the winding roads. The crowd was chaotic and the stress you were feeling pulling your psyche away, but you had to run. This was your only shot.

Breathing heavily you wasted no time in forcing your soiled feet to book it over there. Once you were in the crevises like that, you could at least rest for a moment. Whizzing past the Twi’lek citizens and distracted troopers you weaved your way through the chaos and into the canyon road. It was as if you were invisible, no one had even flinched at the breeze your body made as it flew past. Assuring no one was following you, you quickly glanced back as you continued to run. The view of the chaos slowly becoming less and less the further you ran in. Now you were surrounded by nothing but the walls of this canyon. You had to at least reach a decent distance inside before you could assume your safety.

After about 3 yards further you finally stopped, leaning against the canyon wall to breathe. Your journey freedom wasn’t nearly over, but this was farther than you thought you may ever get. Sighing with content, you closed your eyes. Thinking about the possibilities of your future life. Maybe you could finally visit the greener valleys of Ryloth, maybe even run off to another system, who knows. It was all about to be possible now. You didn’t want to wait any longer, you wanted to get to your freedom now.

Your (Y/E/C) eyes opened softly, your body suddenly locking stiff as you could feel someone’s eyes on you. There was no one in front of you, no one had followed you up the road…had they? Slowly looking to your side your heart practically jumped into your throat from the sudden startlement. A cloaked figure in nothing but shrouds of black, a particularly intimidating mask with silver details, its shoulders broad slowly stalking towards you.

Within in an instant you were running again. The adrenaline pumping through you seemed to almost numb the pain of your feet. Every footfall you made felt as though it was getting weaker. Fearing the worst you peered over your shoulder to see the black masked figured kept approaching you, almost effortlessly. The strides it took almost as swift and precise as a predator. With your breathing becoming more ragged you tried forcing yourself to pick up your knees higher, to make yourself faster somehow. Just as you almost took a longer stride you tripped on one of the cobblestones. A groan escaped your lips as you collided with the stone and sandy ground, your elbows taking a considerable hit. Looking behind you, you saw the figure still approaching you, strides growing quicker. Deciding you were not going to give up on your attempted escape you pulled your arms in front of you and started dragging yourself up. The first attempt fell flat along with you. You could hear the boots getting closer. Desperately you tried standing only to have a leather clad hand grip your ankle.

“NO!!”

Clawing at the ground in front of you, you tried pulling yourself out of its grip, but whatever it was, it was far stronger than you. Your nails were instantly ripped from the ground as the figure pulled you towards them with ease.

“NO PLEASE!! PLEASE LET ME GO!!”

The figure released your ankle as it saw you struggle again to try and stand. Suddenly you felt your whole body freeze. No matter what muscles you tried to move, other than the ones on your face, you were as stiff as the rock walls surrounding you. Tears started just barely grazing your cheeks as the figure brought its hand close to your face. Wincing your eyes shut you were only expecting the worst. This creature would likely want to make you suffer as much as the other citizens had. When you had plotted to run you never considered falling into this horrifying scenario. If anything, this was almost worse than what you were told could happen to you. This creature had stalked and hunted you down through a narrow canyon like a predator. Likely it had chosen to chase you because you were weak. It saw its chance, and chose you as its victim for whatever sick intentions it was plotting behind that expressionless mask. With your heart rate rapidly increasing you felt the same leather material graze your cheek, causing you only to cry further. What kind of sick game was this? For this creature to hunt you down, likely because you were weak in this moment, only to act as if they were a nurturer.

“You worked in the palace.”

The mechanical voice almost made it worse. It was no indication of what or who could be under there, it was not welcoming and surely not the most pleasant sound. Yet you found yourself disturbingly calm that it was not aggressive, not yelling at you, or regarding you sourly. Not wanting to respond verbally you ket your eyes tightly shut as you nodded once. The figure brought its gloved hand down to your chin, just barely tilting it up. Though it was tempting, you kept your eyes shut. The last thing you wanted to do was give this thing the satisfaction of seeing the fear in your eyes. You were already so visibly distraught, what more could it possibly want from you?

“Perfect.”

Before you knew what happened you suddenly lost conscienessness. Everything went black and silent in the matter of seconds.

* * *

 

Dark interiors came into your hazey vision as your eyes fluttered open. A sort of sleak metal ceiling with extremely dim lighting. The sound of muffled humming coming from somewhere in the room filling your ears, as if your sense of hearing had vastly improved. The deafening silence besides those machines was almost haunting. The room had no scent, though you were sure anything your nose caught a whiff of would likely either be your own scent or something outside of the room. The aching of your muscles slowly became more evident to you as you felt yourself waking up. The blisters from yesterday were still aching along with your limbs. The faint feeling of a scrape on your forearms.

“Comfortable?”

Startled by the sound of the deep voice you turned to your side, with (Y/E/C) shooting open. There was the same black figure only unmasked and sitting mere feet away from the cot you were on. His large frame hunched over slightly as he stared intently at you. His pale face was littered with beauty marks, framed by dark raven black hair, deep brown eyes and plump pink lips. Needless to say, this was not at all what you had expected to be under that contraption of a mask. Remembering just how terrified you had been of him chasing you, you curled up into a corner of your cot, pulling your knees to your chest, locking them in with your arms. The closer you get to the wall and further from him, the better. He likely didn’t hunt you down to simply have a chat. The mans bottom lip quivered as his eyes almost glimmered under the dim lighting coming through the room.

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

You scoffed, trying to appear defiant despite your raging fear. Still trying to keep your arms still and stiff against your knees.

“Nobody with good intentions hunts someone down like a predator.”

His lips just barely parted, as his gaze towards you turned softer.

“I can sense your fear…I assure you I will not harm you.”

Gulping you scooted even closer to the wall, almost wishing it would suddenly open some kind of trap door to let you escape.

“Then why am I here?”

He hesitated, making a sort of pout with his lips as he pondered as he considered his next words. Truthfully he hadn’t really thought past this point, at least not this portion. With a sigh he shifted on the ball of his feet, you realized he was squatting by your bed side. He cleared his throat, as if he was nervous.

“Freedom.”

You shook your head, “Then why am I in a cell if I am free?”

“Free from your life as a slave on Ryloth.”

“But a prisoner to you?”

He sighed frustrated. When he had envisioned how this conversation would go in his head, you were far more willing to speak with him, your being not petrified by his presence. The thoughts you had running through your head of what he might do to you only made him feel worse. He didn’t want you to be so terrified of him. There may have been information in your mind of where the planets resources for artilery could be found, but that was just a cover story for his true intentions. At the sight of you running through that crowd he found himself locked onto you. He could sense the determination in each footstep you took, your hopeful spirit considering your freedom from slavery, your tact. The feelings the mere sight of you brought him, he couldn’t understand, but surely didn’t want to lose. He had to have you.

“…No. I’m…I’m not sure how to…express my intentions. Though nothing you are thinking is what I have in mind. My intentions are not so barbaric.”

You raised a brow, he was a force sensitive too? Though it only made sense the First Order would have someone with that ability and power on their side.

“I’m…fascinated…by you. Something about you…you bring me foreign feelings…sensations. As if my insides were dusted with feathers. My mind entirely distracted by your presence. …Nervous, to speak to you. I…found a need to take you myself. Though I cannot explain it.”

Your cheeks heated up to a bright crimson as you stuttered.

“Y-you…admire me?”

Considering the term, he looked to you, tilting his head just the slightest.

“Explain the term.”

“Um…you…uh…you admire someone when you either find them attractive, or look up to them. …Considering my predicament I assume you’re more attracted. …Physically attracted.”

He nodded, shifting his feet again as he brought himself a little closer to the cot. You made sure to keep yourself against the wall, he may have been talking sweetly now but he could flip a switch at any given moment. This could just be a trap, for all you knew this was the man who was buying you with the other slaves.

“Yes I, admire you.”

“…You took me captive…because you admire me?”

He nodded again, his expression going blank as he tried to gage how you were feeling about all of this. From his perspective he had done almost nothing wrong. Aside from your fearful reaction he was sure it was acceptable to simply sweep you up and take you home with him. Though to his defense, with how naive he truly was, he had no idea what that meant to people like you. As a slave, a lower class, a woman, he was simply aloof. Unlocking your arms from your knees, you just barely relaxed your posture and position on the cot.

“I have no intentions to keep you as a slave…that life is gone. I only mean to be close to you. Take care of you.”

You started rubbing your arm with your left hand as you avoided his very pogniant gaze. He obviously had no intention of looking away from you anytime soon. He also obviously had no knowledge of the appropriate ettiquette for staring. Gulping you just barely nodded.

“I see.”

“…My intentions are not to bring you any harm, physically or mentally. You are truly free here. I will house you, clothe you, feed you, protect you, let you do as you wish here, provide for you. Truly…care for you.”

You relaxed your legs a little, still keeping your distance. Had you known any better it would sound like he was trying to give himself the title and duties a husband would have to his wife. Though by how unaware he seemed about affection, obviously with his tactics of getting you, it didn’t seem he was considering that. At least not yet.

“This can be your new home.”

You turned your eyes to him again. His brown orbs appeared more like the eyes of a puppy now. Patiently awaiting a response from you. Though you weren’t aware, he truly had no evil intentions with you. He was nothing but honest in telling you that he only wanted to care for you, and have you nearby. There wasn’t much he understood about all of that, being as isolated and physically involved with aggressive fight training, but he genuinely in his gut knew this was something he had to try. He wanted to grant you your desired freedom.

Likely Ryloth, or at least the palace, was in flames at this moment from what the First Order had done. Your intentions to go back had fleeted the second your feet hit that cobblestone road. Slavery obviously wasn’t something you wanted to return to or seek out again. There weren’t many other options that were screaming for you to take them. Having never been free before, you wouldn’t even know where to start. The worst scenario being your choice of an escape would only lead to someone finding you and enslaving you again. However fate had oddly put you here. With this strangely warm man, who was most definitely intimidating, promising you a comfortable life. Maybe this was your chance.

Silently you nodded, moving a strand of hair from your face.

“Alright…I’ll take it.”

With the faintest smile you had probably ever seen the man stood, lightly dusting off his robes. “

Wonderful. I’ll have someone show you to your new living quarters. They’ll be just across from mine. You can make yourself comfortable there.”

The thought of a shower after so long brought a smile to your face.

“T-thank you. Thank you…”

“Kylo…my name is Kylo Ren.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After obliging to staying on the base with Kylo, (Y/N) starts to adjust to life with the First Order. Realizing life at the First Order is the closest to freedom she has ever been, she tries to look past its not so admirable qualities.

Walking up to a set of blast doors you quietly observed as Kylo punched in the code. Though Ryloth was its own sort of advanced, this was on another level of advanced technology you had never seen before. With a hiss they slid open to reveal a fairly large living quarters. As the doors finally reached their respective place, your mouth fell agape. Your little cavern back at the palace would be put to far more than shame in comparisson to this room. The sheer size of it was overwhelming. Were they allowed to give someone like you a room this nice? You had only just gotten here. Kylo walked through the doorframe as he looked back to you.

“These will be your new living quarters. I hope they will be satisfactory.”

Walking a little further in yourself you gazed around the room. It was all shades of sleak black and dark grey, it was well furnished with a long grey couch, a little modern kitchenette area, a holo pad in front of your couch, an actual dining table and thin black chairs. Moving over the metal floors you made your way towards your bedroom, only to find your mouth dropping yet again. The bed was huge, with what appeared to be fluffy and soft wool grey blankets and sheets, and sat in the middle of the back wall with a little leather headboard. Both sides of the bed had end tables. Peering over to the bathroom you saw all black marble, with new sleak appliances.

Smiling to yourself you turned back to the door. As your body made the turn you jumped in startlement, Kylo was standing barely a foot away from you. Placing a hand over your chest you backed up to the bed, trying to put some distance between you. From your years as a slave you had come to believe that no one standing that close to you ever wanted to simply check on you, there was alterior intentions. Sensing your fear resurface Kylo took a step back and put his hands up.

“My apologies.”

You shook your head as you sat on the edge of your new bed, internally sighing at the soft feeling under you.

“No, it’s okay. It’s um, it’s not you.”

Though he didn’t understand what that exactly meant to you he nodded back. Clearing his throat he started backing out of the room.

“I’ll leave you to your new quarters.”

Nodding you mumbled, “Thank you.”

With a last scan of you with his eyes he made his way back out of your living quarters. Leaning forward you watched as he opened the blast doors and practically floated past them from how quick the motion in his long limbs were.

A little wave of relief washed over you as the doors slid shut again. You were grateful that he had taken you out of your life of slavery, but the image of him chasing you down through the canyon still resonated in your mind. His words were so welcoming, but starkly contrasting his actions. How was it possible for someone to be so endearingly naive about admiration yet so undeniably intimidating and threatening? Was he truly someone you could trust? He was with the First Order, nobody within the Order had a reputation for mercy or empathy of any measure. Sure you were to an extent free, in a new and comfortable home, but at what cost? Kylo had given you no explanation of any job you would be assigned or your status within the Order. Were you a prisoner, an employee or something else entirely?

The latter sent a shiver down your spine.

The last thing you wanted to end up a slave again. Your body was already spent from all the physical labor you had done throughout the years, you weren’t sure you could handle anymore. Laying back on the soft sheets you found yourself staring at the ceiling, pondering over all of these things. Particularly Kylo. Everything about Kylo made you increasingly curious and yet afraid. You knew he was strong, both physically with his body and with the force. He displayed a great deal of power in the way he carried himself as well as the energy he undeniably brought into a room with his mere presence. It was pulsing, aggressive, and heavy. You didn’t understand much about the force, but you were more than positive that this Kylo Ren was no one you should ever cross.

All of that considered, his reaction to you made you all the more perplexed. How was someone who so clearly kidnapped you against your will so oddly welcoming to you? The promises he had made you already as if they were vows, despite only knowing of your existence a few hours ago. The ominous pesimism in your mind told you to be wary of that behavior, that something just wasn’t adding up. Having your past as a slave and hearing the horrifying stories of your colleagues that you were fortunate enough to never experience, you couldn’t help but assume the worst. You wanted to believe that this man had good intentions towards you, that he truly wanted you to live a free life like millions of others in the galaxy got to. The way his eyes glimmered at you patiently, awaiting the words to escape your lips surely seemed well mannered and good natured. Being hunted down as if you were some type of animal however, was how you had happened upon the opportunity to see that look within his eyes. All that you could conclude at this moment was that the man obviously was someone to practice caution with, and that only time would tell who he really was.

Looking up once again, back out to the living space, you saw the edge of your window. The thought of what Kylo Ren could possibly want only made you consider that you should start plotting your escape ahead. No matter how you did it, it would be dangerous, but you had to have a plan, just in case. It felt horrible that you had to assume the worst, but you were far more concerned with your survival and dignity. Letting your head fall back onto the mattress you released a deep breath, resting your hands over your abdomen as you stared at the ceiling once again.

* * *

 

After taking a shower and drying yourself off with your new towels, you slipped into the clothes left for you which you were absolutely positive had the softest strain of cotton you would ever feel against your flesh. The clothes were very generic and simple, all black attire with a First Order emblem on the left side of your long sleeved shirt, a stripe of red down each side of your pant legs. Just as you sat back down on your bed you heard a loud knocking on the blast doors.

Arching a brow you stood, cautiously walking up to the main doors of your new quarters. As you approached the control panel for the door you found yourself still. Nobody had told you what buttons did what yet, the palace on Ryloth didn’t have much technology such as this in its possession. Biting your lip in concentration you suddenly heard that haunting modified voice from the other side of the doors.

“It’s the blue.”

Hesistantly reaching forward you quickly pushed it with your index finger only to immediately retract your hand, as if something were going to shock you. With your arms held close to your torso you watched as the blast doors hissed open to reveal Kylo’s towering, dark figure.

“It’s just a button, it will not harm you.”

Looking back to the button, then to Kylo you nodded, resting your arms more comfortably at your sides.

“Right.”

“I’ve come to escort you around the base, show you where everything is.”

Nodding you hesitantly folded your hands in front of yourself.

“Oh…right now?”

Kylo tilted his masked head slightly, you weren’t sure of the expression under his mask but the gesture seemed as though he were mocking you.

“Do you have other preoccupations?”

Looking behind you to the barren room you were just napping in, obviously you quite literally had nothing better to do. You turned back to face him, shaking your head.

“No sir I do not.”

“Excellent.”

Gesturing with his gloved hand, he beckoned you over to him just outside the door.

“This way.”

Nodding you obliged with his request and followed him out of the blast doors. With his hands clasped behind his back he took strides down the hall, his long limbs making the strides longer than the ones you were accustomed to. The added toll on your feet from the days before didn’t help the matter in trying to keep up with his pace.

“This level of the base consists of only personal living quarters, the levels above are where the working functions of the First Order reside.”

You nodded, still focusing on trying to match his long strides. He paused suddenly, turning his masked gaze to you.

“Would you prefer I walked at a slower pace?”

Right, he’s force sensitive, you thought to yourself. He must have heard you internally cursing yourself for your strides that either looked ridiculous in how far you stretched your limbs or with how frantically you shuffled them to keep up.

“Y-yes…please.”

Turning his gaze forward once again, he gave you a short nod.

“Very well.”

Surely enough he slowed his pace beside you, being sure to watch how quickly he moved his long limbs.

“I hope that you will be able to adjust to the base’s temperature. I can always provide you with thicker robes if you wish.”

You nodded as you flashed him a faint smile.

“Oh that’s not necessary for the time being. The base itself is actually warmer than I had anticipated seeing the snow outside.”

“Good.”

Turning your gaze back forward you couldn’t help but notice how short, and formal his responses to you were. Though you were always expected to speak formally with your masters and practically everyone else you encountered due to your social status, you were not accustomed to hearing someone regard you formally. Walking down a different corridor, now on the second level you took note of just how uniform the design of the base itself was. Had he not been guiding you, you would have assumed this level was the same as the first. The only thing that truly set them apart were the layouts and spacings between doors.

“This is the level with base controls and sanitation. There will not often be any reason for you to be here, unless requested otherwise.”

You nodded as he abruptly turned a corner, up yet another stairwell.

“Are we-”

“This way.”

Looking down the hall then back to the stairs you shrugged.

“Alright.”

Reaching the next level, Kylo seemed to take a longer pause, waiting for you to look around you.

“What level is this?”

“Base operations, not to be confused with the base controls. This is where you will find the other members of the Order, as well as the cantina.”

At the sound of cantina you internally felt a little jump of joy. Despite serving and fetching food for your palace, you had never tasted real food aside from ration bread and some sort of green mush that you could never confidently identify. You couldn’t help but let your imagination run wild with the possibilities of what you might find in that cantina. Judging from how advanced the technology of the base was, you assumed they likely could afford all sorts of foods and in masses to accomodate all the troops.

Suddenly you felt a firm forearm hit you faintly in the abdomen, stopping you from walking forward. With a quick peak down you saw Kylo had swept his arm into your way, holding you back. Turning his gaze towards you, he slowly lowered his arm.

“Would you like to go there now?”

As you looked back into his visor you hesitated.

“G-go where?”

“The cantina.”

“Oh! Oh…umm if that…if that’s ok with you?”

He nodded, “Certainly.”

Dropping his arms back to his sides casually he started picking up his pace once again as he made no hesitation. From what you knew about the First Order you knew this base was not even a full year old, yet he walked these halls as if he had lived in them for decades. He did not hesitate for a moment to even recall where anything was, he simply let his heavy boots lead him to wherever he desired. Rounding a few corners you finally came upon a hall where you could see a set of wider blast doors with a stream of troopers and officers filing in and out of it. That had to be it. As you approached you could at least faintly smell the aroma of some sort of meat.

 _Meat_ , you thought dreamily.

Being a slave, you were often deprived of sources of protein agaisnt your own will since your masters viewed the food as a luxury. Closing your eyes as you got closer to the doors, taking a deep breath in, you were suddenly startled out of your dreamy state by Kylo’s booming voice.

“Out!!”

Without a moments hesitation, every individual within the room started frantically scurrying around the room. Some people shoved the last of their food into their pockets, some scarfing it down as their bodies would allow and quickly retrieving their things whether they be datapads or blasters. Fearfully almost everyone regarded Kylo with a quick ‘commander’ as they flew past him and down the halls. After a few minutes the room was finally empty.

The benches were barren, with only crumbs left behind from the meals that were once on the plastic table tops. That same aggressive nature that made you hesitate to trust him had surfaced again. From the way people ran from the area as if it was a natural response to his immediate presence only affirmed your caution. You had only heard whispers of the mysterious man that was Kylo Ren when you lived on Ryloth, though your masters were far more concerned with Hux and his military power. Kylo was a whole other breed of power they did not possess or fully understand. With a tilt of his hand and a slow wave of his hand into the room he gestured to you.

“Shall we?”

Quietly you nodded, deciding to not oppose him and his efforts. Picking a random table you sat down cautiously, dusting a few of the crumbs out of your way. Keeping your eyes on Kylo for the time being, you watched him press a sort of green button on a small control panel by the blast doors. Turning from that task he strode over in just 5 quick steps, sliding his large frame into the chair across from you, he hunched forward. The way he placed himself in the furniture seemed as though he was not accustomed to sitting in such things. Feeling the room fall into a defeaning silence you looked down to your hands in your lap, twiddling your thumbs.

The longer the flesh of your thumbs hit against each other, the more you could feel the weight of Kylo’s gaze. Though the mask concealed his facial features, you could tell by the shiver of goosebumps up your flesh that he was staring. For someone so formal, he was so obviously not taught any proper etiquette in regards to staring. Suddenly a faint beeping entered the room, distracting you from staring into your lap. Rolling towards you, a sleak black droid appeared, a straight red band resembling where its eyes would be, pulling a small cart full of trays.

“Good evening Commander.”

Kylo nodded to the droid.

“Have you brought what I requested?”

“Of course Commander Ren. Only the most exceptional quality.”

“Thank you.”

Unlatching itself from the cart, the droid rolled back out of the cantina as your eyes roamed over to the cart sitting to the side of your table. Almost everything on it was covered, concealed with tops to keep the warmth of the dishes. From the other side of the table Kylo reached over to the cart, quickly setting all the trays across your shared table. The further he emptied the cart, the more you realized he had requested enough food for a royal feast. The trays were now pushing and shuffling for space as he set them down carefully, trying not to push them over the edge of your table side. Finally setting down the last one, he turned his gaze to you with a short nod.

“Feel free to start with whatever you wish.”

Nodding you carefully took your fork from the tray.

“Thank you.”

Going for the sake of practicality you removed the covering lid for the tray in front of you. As the lid lifted from the dish a small cloud of steam released, the heat practically sighing onto your skin. Taking in the scent, you closed your eyes as the aroma filled your nostrils. Sighing with content, you dug your fork into the stringy green food, carefully bringing it up to your mouth. The flavors sinked into your taste buds, the sudden tanginess of it an experience you had yet to experience. Humming in content you started taking less conservative bites. With how long it had been since you had eaten a real meal, there was no point in holding back from all the food in front of you.

* * *

 

After finishing the first tray 15 minutes later, you moved onto the second which was a sort of mushy but rich and savory dish. Within a few fork fulls of the new substance you came to a pause, taking note of Kylo. Despite all of this food set out in front of both of you, Kylo had yet to remove his helmet. The way his visor was facing you also brought attention to the fact that he was still staring at you. Had he been watching you the entire time you were eating?

“A-aren’t you going to eat anything?”

“No.”

Staring back at him, you held back the urge to blurt out the questions that seemed all too obvious to you. How could you order this much food only to eat none of it yourself? Do you expect me to eat all of this? Am I some sort of human sacrifice you have to stuff full? Who’s paying for all of this?

“B-…but I can’t eat all of this.”

“Over a number of days you could.”

Staring around at all of the trays around you, you internally chuckled. You may have craved real food, but not to the extent of hoarding your own cantina away within your new quarters. Looking back to Kylo, still staring at you unmoved, you tried to speak only to have him cut you off.

“I will have it delivered to your quarters by the same droid. Should you dislike any of them it will be disposed of immediately.”

“…Ok.”

Eating another bite the room fell silent once again as you let the flavor of the new cuisine settle onto your taste buds.

Kylo remained staring at you. Not being force sensitive yourself you couldn’t read or sense anything on his end except his eyes on you. Under that mask however, he watched you like he was studying every aspect of you. The way you nervously looked down to your plate when you caught sight of his masked gaze, the way even your eager stuffings of food into your mouth had a dainty sort of nature to them, the way your nose occasionally crinkled between bites, the way you held your fork. He wasn’t sure what it was about you, but everything about you had him enchanted. To him you were fascinating in a way he couldn’t quite articulate despite his intelligence. You were something that defied his usual logic, made him second guess himself, suddenly become aware of the way he was acting. It was as if your presence caused him to see things in a different way, in a small but significant way you changed the way he thought through his actions. Somehow, with that first sight he had caught of you, you had put a spell on him. One that he could not for the life of him understand.

“You look overwhelmed.”

You nodded hesitantly.

“Yes, it all smells and looks wonderful, but there’s…there’s just no way I could possibly eat more than I already have in this one sitting.”

Kylo nodded as he stood from the table.

“I’ll alert the droid to deliver the remaining dishes to your quarters.”

You followed his actions, standing from your end of the table with a nod.

“Thank you.”

Following behind him once again as you exited the cantina you attempted once again to keep up with his long strides. With each step he took you watched his robes billow behind him, as if a breeze were passing through the base. Looking to the others around you, you compared their attire to Kylo’s. Obviously everyone else on the base exposed far more of their facial features as well as their physical body appearance from the way their uniforms fit. As if a light bulb had gone off in your head, you eagerly turned to Kylo.

“I was curious, Kylo, will I have a job aboard this base?”

Keeping his gaze laser focused on the hallway in front of him, he clasped his hands behind his back once again.

“I didn’t consider those details…are you requesting that you do?”

You nodded, “So long as it is not like my past line of work I would be happy to take a job here. It would surely make my days feel like they had purpose.”

Nodding he gestured with one of his hands with a short and abrupt point forward.

“Indeed, we shall discuss your options with General Hux.”


End file.
